Had Tinnitus for a Long Time, and Recently Experienced an Ototoxic Spike from Azithromycin!

I'm 27. I had tinnitus since I was probably 4 years old. Used to have a lot of ear infections. I used to think T was normal. Over time I remember my tinnitus gradually becoming more noticeable. But I always had control over it.

The beginning of May I had a persisting cough which was bronchitis. The doctors prescribed me Azithromycin, and it wasn't the first time, but the second time I took Azithromycin. I didn't have side effects the first time. I ended up with really bad side effects: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches within three days on the 250mg 6days dosage. I went to the ER, and I told them I think I am having an ADR. They told me to keep taking it, so unfortunately I did.

And started to experience a spike in T towards the end of my course was done. The spike is still with me. I reported this to the FDA today.

 

Sorry about your spike ...

I hope it settles ...

Did the azith stop your bronchitis symptoms?

 

@DeblnAustralia yes it did. The spike is so bad that I can longer sleep like I used to. I wish I would have researched azith more before I took it. What makes me really think about the whole situation is that I actually took Azithromycin last November for recurring bronchitis with zero side side effects. I wonder why I got a spike the second time I took it, but not the first time. I would think that azith would be safe for me to take.

 

It is possible that the azith isnt responsible for your spike.

Are you an asthmatic?

 

No I don't have asthma. I'm pretty sure it was the drug that caused it. I might have had a bad batch of the drug that wasn't manufactured correctly. Or, my body suddenly became intolerant to it. Idk but I've been struggling with a lot of bad side effects still. Some of them are starting to go away with my consistent effort to change my lifestyle. Antibiotics are so bad for people. I didn't really know how harmful they were until all this happened. They disrupt the gut flora killing of all of the good bacteria responsible for keeping you sane and healthy. Antibiotics should only be used if necessary. This is just what I looked into, because I'm no doctor.

 

This is so unfortunate, and it's frustrating to see that threads like this keep reappearing in this forum. We need some kind of guideline here for those who have T and are prescribed a mycin type of anitibiotic. Something that lets them know that the second their T changes in any way, they must immediately stop taking the medication and demand a different type of antibiotic that is less likely to be ototoxic.

I'm also frustrated because most health professionals don't give a darn if your T gets worse from the antibiotics, something that is potentionally permanent and very distressing for the patient.

It may not be very effective but there are a few articles/studies that suggest that melatonin (hormonal sleeping pills) can have a protecting effect against drug induced ototoxicity.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21673362

Other than that people suggest taking magnesium and zinc and generally get all necessary nutrients after a drug induced spike.

 

Thank you @Elinor. It is unfortunate, but I am managing. It was hard because during my recovery from azith I was doing fine up until two weeks, and then I caught a virus. It made me go kind of crazy because I was really improving from that ADR. The virus seemed to bring back all the problems I had from the antibiotics. Then I recovered from that and started getting better slowly. But then I got sick again!!! On July 3rd from a cold Im just really struggling to gain my health back. I've been taking vitamins and probiotics everyday. I had such a stressful semester because my Dad had a heart attack during my final exams and I was coughing all the time because of the bronchitis. And then on the last day of class I went to the doctors, and that's when I was prescribed azith. I'm trying my best to get my life back so I can go back to school in August. I hope that my T will go down by then because I don't know how I am going to focus!